Unafraid to Say I Love You
by ThrowDownTheKey
Summary: Collins and Angel, Mimi and Roger, Maureen and Joanne, and Mark and his camera. The couples' experiences with saying those precious three words to each other for the first time. I will update as soon as possible!
1. Collins and Angel

**This was inspired by Truly Unruly's Fool's Rush In. I apologize ahead of time for the sad and cheesy ending.**

Angel was excited. She flipped the egg in the frying pan carefully, and then buttered the toast. She had amazing plans for today. But she was nervous. Angel didn't believe in holding feelings inside, because what if she died tomorrow, then those feelings would forever be left unsaid. So she had to do it. She, Angel Dumott Schunard, was going to tell Thomas B. Collins, that she loved him.

Angel treasured the word love. According to her, it was the most sacred word in the dictionary. That's why she never misused or overused it. Of course, she told Mimi she loved her, and Angel's Mama, but Angel had only ever told two men she loved them. That number was soon to be three.

Love, by its very definition, was an intense feeling of deep affection. Angel had loved other guys before, but they had never truly loved her back. And Angel was certain Collins did. _But what if he doesn't? What if I say it and he can't say it back? Will we break up? _Angel shoved those negative thoughts from her mind. _Of course he loves you, Angel. _But, the thought that he didn't kept crawling back into her brain.

Collins awoke with a start. He was drenched in sweat, fear pulsing through his body. Quickly, turned over, only to find cold sheets where Angel should have been. "ANGEL!" he shouted frantically.

Angel almost dropped the toast she was making. Collins' voice was so full of fear, she thought something had happened. "Collins?" she shouted back, her heels clicking down the hallway to check on her lover.

Collins breathed a sigh of relief when he heard her voice.

"Collins. Honey, what's wrong?" Angel met him at the side of the bed.

"You're still here, thank god," he said, pulling Angel into a hug. He squeezed her waist tightly, like if he were to let go, she would slip away out of his arms. "My Angel…" he said, taking deep breaths.

"What happened?" she asked worriedly, wiping the sweat from his brow off with a towel.

"It's… it's nothing," he said sheepishly.

"It's okay baby, you can tell me."

"I just, I had a dream you left. That you… you died."

Angel didn't know what exactly to say to that. She couldn't respond with, 'that'll never happen.' Because she knew it would, eventually. So she just kissed him.

"I'm not going anywhere, not yet," she said softly.

"Good," Collins said, wrapping his arms back around her waist. "Because I love you too much to lose you."

Angel smiled, then she realized something. "What? What did you say?" she asked, her head buried in his neck.

"I said I had a dream you died-"

"No!" Angel interrupted. "You said you loved me!"

Collins let go of Angel as if she had burned him. "Are… Are we not saying that yet?"

The anarchist's eyes shone with hurt. Angel's heart broke in realization of what she had just said. "No… no. I was… I was just-"

"Just what?"

Angel looked down at the floor, "Supposed to say it first."

Collins beamed, and smiled. "So, you love me?"

"I love you, Collins," Angel said, loving the way the words felt in her mouth. _Angel loves Collins, Collins loves Angel._

Collins smiled, loving the way the words sounded coming out of her mouth. "I love you so much, my Angel." It may have been the first time they had said it, but it was most definitely not the last.

XOXO

"ANGEL!" Collins called out into the dark apartment. He frantically turned over in bed, but Angel wasn't beside him. He wondered if she was in the kitchen, or out on the fire escape. Then he remembered. She was gone. And this time, she wouldn't call out his name in response, then come running back to make sure he was okay. And never again, would he get to tell her he loved her.

**Please review.**


	2. Roger and Mimi

"Roger? Are you home?"

"Hey Mimi, how was work?" Roger responded, pulling Mimi into a big bear hug.

The dancer sighed, "Oh… fine as long as I get to come home to you." She set her purse down on the chair by her apartment door. "And what did you do today?"

Roger ran his fingers through his blonde hair, "I… I wrote you something."

"You did?" Mimi awed, "Can I hear it?"

"Yeah, hold on a sec," he said, running back into his room where he kept his precious guitar. Mimi sat down on the torn up couch, folding her legs underneath her.

Roger came and stood in front of Mimi, his guitar in hand. He started to play some chords, and then started singing.

_I never thought I would love again,_

_But then you came into my life,_

_With your brown eyes,_

_And you danced your way, _

_Into my heart._

Mimi smiled. It obviously wasn't the song that would bring him glory, but he wrote it for her. So whether it was good or bad didn't matter.

_You woke me up,_

_You and your Angel,_

_Got me to start,_

_Living again._

_I know this song is bad,_

_But I wrote it for you,_

_And what I'm trying to say,_

_I guarantee is true._

_Mimi Marquez,_

_I love you._

Mimi stood up, and pushed Roger's guitar around his back, then she hugged him. Her smile was stretching from ear to ear, her brown eyes lighting up. "I love you too," she said.

Roger guffawed, "Really? Mimi, really?" he was smiling, almost laughing at his good fortune. Most men are lucky to ever truly love one woman, and Roger was lucky enough to get to love two. He ran his hands through Mimi's curls, pressing his hands to her face in disbelief. "I love you too, Mimi."

Mimi squealed as Roger lifted her up and spun her around. "Wait!" Mimi laughed. Roger set her down gently on the floor.

Mimi ran into her room, leaving Roger no explanation. Then, in a matter of seconds, he heard the sounds of Mimi talking on the phone.

"ANGEL! He said it! He said it! Yes, of course I said it back! Oh, I love him! I love Roger Davis!"


	3. Maureen and Joanne

**Here's some MoJo fluff for you guys. I haven't really written a lot about them, but I always have fun when I do. Enjoy :)**

Honestly, Joanne was scared. What if Maureen didn't love her back? What if she was just being used as a change in scenery from Maureen's current boyfriend, Mark? Joanne didn't want to lose whatever she and Maureen had, but she also didn't want to fall hard for someone who didn't think of her like that. Love was confusing.

Joanne was very different from Maureen. Joanne, with her black business suits and brief cases, her Doc Martins and her Harvard education. Her life was full of discipline, margins, and lists. She always looked before she leaped, except when it came to love. Joanne fell in love easily, but always wanting more, always giving more. She never quit, even when the relationship was doomed from the start.

You don't get to choose who you fall in love with. Joanne was no different. She never thought she'd have feelings for someone like Maureen Johnson. Maureen, with her crazy dark hair and wild late-night protests. With her flirtatious demeanor, leather pants, her sense of anarchism, and her sailor mouth. But Joanne loved her. Without a doubt, she loved her. But did Maureen love her back?

"Maureen?"

The performance artist looked up from the People Magazine she was flipping through. "Yes, Pookey?"

Joanne sighed. This was going to be hard. Did she really want to risk losing Maureen? But did she want the alternative? "Do you love me?"

Maureen's eyes widened. "Yes, I love you."

"No," Joanne wanted more. "Do you really love me? Will you end it with Mark? Because, I love you and I want to be with you. Really be with you."

Joanne hesitated, afraid of what Maureen's answer might be. Maureen walked over to where Joanne was sitting, and took the lawyer's hands in hers. "Yes. I love you Joanne Jefferson."

"Commitment?" Joanne asked steadily.

"If that's what you want, than yes. Commitment," Maureen smiled.

"I love you, Maureen," Joanne said.

"Me too."

Joanne laughed, "You love yourself?"

"Yes, what's not to love?" Maureen joked. "I'm kidding. What I meant was, I love you too."

**review please! I'll try to update soon, but the reviews convince me to write faster... :)**


	4. Mark Cohen

Mark looked down at the hunk of metal in his hands. But to him, it wasn't just a hunk of metal. It was beautiful. With it, he was going to capture everything. Every last moment. This was a newer model of his old camera. Once Mark had found out Collins and Roger had AIDS, he wanted to film everything. So he could remember it all. The best days of his life.

Everyone thought he loved his camera. But he didn't. He loved what he could do with it. He adored having those solid memories, forever flickering in close up. Mark never forgot anything, but in the off chance that he did, he wanted to have something to remind him. Remind him of the good old days, of his friends, his true family. Not the family in Scarsdale, the people he was never good enough for. His family in Alphabet City. Roger, Collins, Angel, Maureen, Mimi, and Joanne.

"You really love that thing, don't you?" Collins asked Mark. The filmmaker hadn't realized that he'd been staring at it for over five minutes.

When Mark didn't answer, Angel did for him. "I think he loves what he can do with it, the memories it creates and saves for him."

That part of Angel always freaked Mark out, in a good way. How she could see right through him, read him. "Uhh…" was all he said.

"Nah," Collins laughed. "The camera is like his girlfriend, his baby."

Angel laughed along good heartedly, but winked at Mark.

"Come on, say it," Collins teased. "Say what you're feeling."

What Mark was feeling was that he needed to capture this moment on film. But instead, for the sake of giving his friends a laugh, he looked down with mocked love at his camera, and said, "I love you." Then he looked up at the group of bohemians surrounding him, they were all laughing. "I love you guys," he whispered, so no one could hear. Maybe he did love his camera, but he loved his friends a hell of a lot more.


End file.
